Safe Places to Hide
by PlatinumMagic
Summary: Even in a place as big as Blood Pledge Castle, finding a safe spot to relax away from people is difficult. But it's even harder to find a safe place to hide when you need it. Shounenai. Gwendel X Gunter.


I've had this particular story in my file for a while and finally decided to put it up. I hope you enjoy it!

**Safe Places to Hide**

Gunter slid easily into the hot water and breathed a profound sigh. The bath water lapped gently at his fair skin, easing away the tension from the day. His Majesty, the Maou, had left two days ago with Wolfram and Konrad and he had done nothing but worry since. Not to mention that having Anissina around the Castle was becoming hard on his nerves.

As soon as he'd been able to finish organizing the massive piles of paperwork for His Majesty to sign he'd retreated to his rooms, desperate for some solitude. A long bath and quiet dinner in his room were the most he could hope for right now.

The silver haired man sighed again and slipped farther into the water, letting it cover his shoulders. The wet tips of his hair, which had been carelessly pinned-up in his rush, stuck to his slender neck and floated on top of the water. To his relief, the headache that had been slowly creeping up his neck all day was starting to fade away. Leaning his head back against the side of the bath he watched the steam rise to the ceiling, until his eyes slowly started to close, setting his mind adrift.

Gwendel ran, letting his feet carry him as silently and swiftly as they could away from the source of his terror. Somewhere, not far behind him, he was sure she followed. Searching him out like a hound on the hunt. Anissina. His childhood friend and the one person with the ability to truly terrify him.

A shudder ran down his spine at the thought of the tortures he'd have to bear if she caught up to him. Since they'd arrived at Blood Pledge Castle five days ago, her inventions had become more and more inhumane. And as her preferred guinea pig, that didn't bode well for him. As soon as the guard that he had station in sight of her workroom reported that Anissina was looking for him, he took off, hoping to find some place to lay low for a while. Unlike Walde Castle, he didn't have a hidden room here where he could escape to when he truly could take no more of his friend's "inventions".

The halls flew past him as he tried to think of somewhere that Anissina might not know about. If he remembered correctly there was a small library around here that was not much used anymore. Hell, even a guest room with a good solid door was a small ray of hope to him. All he had to do was find it.

Unfortunately, he was never to reach that small stray hope.

As he came up to a cross in the corridors he heard the fast paced step of a woman's stride and a falsely sweet voice. "Gwendel? I know your around here. Come on, you have to help me test my new magical invention! Oh, Gwendel . . . come out, come out wherever you are!"

His steps fell short as he heard her coming down the adjoining corridor, ever closer to him. He started to back up, hand out against the wall, searching for any place to hide himself. Panic had completely taken over him, he absolutely couldn't deal with this again today!

It was sheer luck when his frantic fingers touched the cool metal of a door knob. Without hesitation and without looking away from the cross in the halls, he grasped the knob and pushed the door open just far enough for him to slip in. Once the door was quietly shut again he rested his forehead against the dark wood, listening with baited breath to his tormentor's movements.

The water around him was beginning to chill when the sound of the door to his rooms opening roused him from his daze. A faint memory of telling one of the kitchen maids to bring his supper to his room tonight nagged at him and he decided he'd better not let his meal get cold.

Gunter stood and reached for a towel, wondering where the time had gone. It didn't seem like he'd been in the bath all that long but at least he was feeling much better. He stepped out carefully and dried off quickly, happy his headache was gone and determined to have a restful evening.

He laid his towel on the holder to dry and slipped on a long white robe that tied loosely about his waist. The comfortably warm material felt wonderful against his chilled skin and he shivered slightly.

As he walked into his bedroom he looked over to the table in the corner for his awaiting meal. But there was none. Instead his violet eyes slid over the figure of a tall man dressed in dark green leaning against his door.

Gunter stopped dead and blinked. "Eh . . .Gwendel!"

The other man spun around, hand on the hilt of his sword. When his eyes met Gunter's they both stared. _What in the world was going on? What was Gwendel of all people doing in _his_ room? _

Both men seemed about to speak when a knock on the door broke the silence. "Gunter, are you in?" A woman's voice called from the other side of the door. Anissina

The silver haired man took one look at Gwendel's panic stricken face and decided that now was not the time for discussion. With a quick look around he gestured to the bed. "Hurry! Hide here!" he whispered.

Gwendel took one look at the door behind him and obviously opted for the bed.

As soon as Gwendel was in, Gunter untied the bed curtains and let them fall, shielding the bed from prying eyes by a veil of alabaster satin. He turned and took one look in the mirror, trying to think up a reasonable excuse, before heading to the door.

"Hello Anissina," Gunter smiled, pulling open the door halfway. "What can I do for you?"

Anissina stared at him speculatively for a moment before smiling back. "You haven't happened to have seen Gwendel, have you? I need his help for a little bit."

"Uh . . . no. No I haven't seen him recently." Gunter replied as steadily as he could manage. He was deathly afraid Anissina would choose him as her alternative to Gwendel and he was completely positive she could see right through him. "I think he said he was going to be in his office most of the day."

The red headed woman gave him a very scrutinizing look before saying thank you and heading off down the corridor again.

Gunter shut the door and turned around to lean back against it. He shut his eyes and sighed with frustration. _So much for his quiet evening . . ._

_To be continued!_

A/N: Well, that's it for the first part. If you liked it please review. I would love a little inspiration,seeing as I haven't finished the next part yet!


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